The CoEPT project (2003-2005) studied the comparability of the operation and evaluation protocols of European proficiency testing schemes. The project was coordinated by the EPTIS partners at that time. There were many different PT providers from all over Europe who took part in this "comparison of intercomparisons". The project focussed on the water, food, soil and occupational hygiene fields and was split into a desk and a field study. Read the summary of the original project proposal (2002).
This work is protected under copyright by the enterprises engaged in the work on this project. The work was supported in part by the European Commission under contract number GTC1-2002-73002, "Comparability of the operation and evaluation protocols of European proficiency testing schemes". Extracts of these documents may be reproduced provided that the source is acknowledged and the extract is not taken out of context.
In this study the participating PT providers evaluated a standardised collection of (partly artificial) datasets according to their regular statistical evaluation protocols. Their evaluation protocols and results were then compared across each sector. For each sector you can download the datasets plus the evaluation report.
| Sector | Evaluation | Dataset |
|---|---|---|
| Water | evaluation report (pdf, 1.0 MB) | PT datasets (xls, < 0.1 MB) |
| Soil | evaluation report (pdf, 0.5 MB) | PT datasets (xls, < 0.1 MB) |
| Food | evaluation report (pdf, 1.0 MB) | PT datasets (xls, < 0.1 MB) |
| Occ. hygiene | evaluation report (pdf, 0.2 MB) | PT datasets (xls, < 0.1 MB) |
summary report of the desk study (pdf, 90 kB)
The results of the desk study were examined in depth in the field trial, in which the participating PT providers distributed (sectorwise) identical samples to the laboratories who participate in their regular PT schemes. They assessed the acquired measurement results according to their regular protocols (i.e. the same protocols as in the first study). These assessments were then compared and evaluated. You can sectorwise download these evaluation reports.
| Sector | Evaluation | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| Water | evaluation report (pdf, 2.0 MB) | amended report (pdf, < 3.0 MB) * |
| Soil | evaluation report (pdf, 3.0 MB) | – |
| Food | evaluation report (pdf, 1.0 MB) | – |
| Occ. hygiene | evaluation report (pdf, 0.1 MB) | – |
summary report of the field study (pdf, 0.5 MB)
* This amended report is not the official report as submitted to the European Commission. It is a newer report which contains several improvements for which there was no time during the project. These improvements have been made by the project partner who coordinated the water sector.
If you are a PT provider we invite you to benchmark your own evaluation protocols and results against those from your colleague PT providers who participated in the CoEPT project. For this purpose, we offer the datasets and reports to you for download. The project findings are still valid today. Use this service - and let us know in case you have any questions or comments.
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